Landslides, Mudslides, and Forest Fires

As many of us have seen on the news recently, a great many people in southern California were impacted by mudslides last night. We know these dangerous natural disasters occur all over the world. Scientists globally are working hard to be able to better predict these devastating events. You can learn more about the use of NASA's satellite data to detect potential landslides here. I recently attended a hearing for government officials that focused on the increasing danger we face from landslides and mudslides and wrote this blog that summarized many of the reports from across the US.

During this hearing, there were reports from scientists who were looking at the impact of forest fires on increasing the probability of mudslides and landslides. After a forest fire event, the soil is often compacted, which increases the potential of the water to move across the soil rather than be soaked into the soil. Much of the vegetation has been burned which increases the potential for erosion to occur,

The GLOBE Program provides our community with real-world experience in observing, collecting data, and using that data to help them better understand our home planet. Right now the ENSO Phase III "Water in our Environment" measurement campaign is focusing on the impact of water, both above and below the surface, on our environment. Yesterday, we had a that focused on the impact of extreme precipitation in Asia, and one of the GLOBE teachers shared her story of surviving these disasters during the flooding that occurred this past December.

We invite our GLOBE community to collect and enter their data and collaborate with each other to enable us to get a sense of how water - both above and below Earth's surface - is impacting our local communities. We like to use this unifying "lens" as a way to share how NASA satellites get a global picture, and our GLOBE community collect local data and then share this data with us to allow us to better understand our home planet. Please join us for our monthly webinars to learn the real-world impacts and use of GLOBE data to inform and engage local communities in being stewards of their environment.